2012 deadliest year for Karachi in two decades: Report

Data shows that more than 2,000 people lost their lives in violent attacks in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in 2012, marking the deadliest year for the financial hub since records began nearly two decades ago.

A report released by Pakistan’s Citizens-Police Liaison Committee said 2,124 people died in violence linked to ethnic and political tensions in Karachi last year.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also said that 1,800 people lost their lives in targeted killings in the first three quarters of 2012.

The HRCP also said that the violence claimed the lives of 1,000 people in the city, which has a population of 18 million, in 2011.

"Karachi is becoming a city where controlling violence is becoming increasingly difficult because of an insufficient police force, which is less than 30,000 for around 18 million people," says Zohra Yusuf, the HRCP chairwoman.

Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Islamabad joined an alliance with Washington in the so-called war on terror.

Since late 2009, there has been a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan and thousands of people have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping the country.